A first focal plain scope will make the cross hair get larger as higher power is dialed. And get smaller when less magnification is dialed. In a second focal scope the reticle stays the same size no matter what magnification dialed. Hope im on the right track and this answered your question.

Ya my cross hairs are getting larger and smaller when I turn the magnification up and down, but the crosshairs are moving on the target it's self, up and down 3" if I hold the scope on bullseye on 4 power then I turn the power up it raises the crosshairs about 3 inches on the target

I got a prob well I think, I put my gun in a shooting rest and when I adjust the power on my scope the cross hairs move is that suppose to happen, its moving up and down about 3" thanks guys

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What is the make and model of your scope? That would normal if the scope is something like a Weaver Acutrac or Leatherwood ART with a built in ballistic drop compensator which is controlled by the zoom setting. If it's not that sort of scope I aave no explanation. It's not normal for a standard first or second focal plane riflescope.

Yes, knowing what scope it is might be helpful. This is actually more common than people might think. With a SFP scope it's more a matter of how much error will it have, if you measure closely enough. It may be .01 MOA, .1 MOA or 1 MOA if anything is out of alignment just a little bit. Naturally higher quality scopes will tend to be closer to the first number, cheaper SFP scopes may end up toward the last number or worse.

Keep in mind with a SFP scope, even if perfect, it will only be the very center of the reticle that stays in the same place--the entire rest of the reticle will move relative to the target when the scope is zoomed which will be obvious with any holdover points, mildots, etc. If you want to use the scope on different powers you can only use the very center of the reticle (unless you do the required math, of course).

None of the above applies to FFP scopes. The reticle moving relative to the target with zoom is physically impossible with FFP scopes. The entire reticle will remain constant so holdover points as well are usable on any power.

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